Are computer skills the new basic skills? The returns to computer, writing and math skills in Britain

Lex Borghans and Bas ter Weel

No 5, Research Memorandum from Maastricht University, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT)

Abstract: The large increase in computer use has raised the question whether people have to betaught computer skills before entering the labour market. Using data from the 1997 SkillsSurvey of the Employed British Workforce, we argue that neither the increase in computer use nor the fact that particularly higher skilled workers use a computer provides evidence that computer skills are valuable. We compare computer skills with writing and math skills and test whether wages vary with computer skills, given the specific use that is made ofcomputers. The regression results show that while the ability to write documents and to carry out mathematical analyses yields significant labour-market returns, the ability to effectively use a computer has no substantial impact on wages. These estimates suggest that writing and math can be regarded as basic skills, but that the higher wages of computer users are unrelated to computer skills.

Keywords: labour economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://unu-merit.nl/publications/rmpdf/2003/rm2003-005.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Are computer skills the new basic skills? The returns to computer, writing and math skills in Britain (2004)
Working Paper: Are Computer Skills the New Basic Skills? The Returns to Computer, Writing and Math Skills in Britain (2003)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:unm:umamer:2003005

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Research Memorandum from Maastricht University, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Leonne Portz ().